A computerised Waka Kotahi flyover of the Waikare Deviation planned for State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa. Video / Waka Kotahi NZTA
A rerouting of the Napier-Wairoa road to bypass the troubled Waikare Gorge has been given a green light that will make it the most expensive highway reconstruction ever in Hawke’s Bay, at a cost of up to $425 million.
Chris Bishop, just three weeks into the job as Minister of Transport, during his announcement, amid the clattering of trucks across the Bailey Bridge, of a green light for the long-awaited Waikare Gorge realignment between Napier and Wairoa. Photo / Doug Laing
The expected cost, of between $350m and $425m, was revealed by new Minister of Transport Chris Bishop as he spoke beside the highway just north of Putorino on Friday - drowned out from time to time by the trucks clattering across the one-lane temporary Bailey Bridge in place of the Waikare River that was destroyed in Cyclone Gabrielle two years earlier, to the day.
In the melting pot for more than 20 years, the 4km deviation, as little as two years ago projected to cost about $250m, and bypassing both Putorino and the bridge site, the first shovel could be in the ground by the end of the year, NZTA senior project manager Chris Mahoney said.
Bishop said it would take a long time - four years is the estimate - but he hopes to be back as Minister to open it.
The wait is worth it, according to Wairoa Mayor Craig Little, who said: “Wairoa will be happy. No one knows what it means to us. It’s a big one.”
The project will include a 160m-long arch bridge from one side of the gorge to the other, which Little notes is higher than the deck of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is 10m higher than the SH5 Mohaka Bridge.
Other examples of an arch bridge can be seen over the Waikato River (130m), the Taupō Bypass (100m) and near Ngaruawahia as part of Te Awa cycleway (130m).
Cyclone Gabrielle on February 14, 2023, destroyed the Waikare Gorge bridge just north of Putorino, and the road between Napier was closed for three months before the opening of a temporary, single-lane Bailey Bridge.
A computerised view of the 160m-long, 60m-high bridge planned for the Waikare Gorge deviation on State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa, created several years ago. Photo / NZTA
The existing Bailey Bridge will remain in place until the realignment is built and will follow a routine maintenance schedule with regular monitoring to ensure it remains safe and fit for purpose.
Bishop said the funding would ensure a resilient and safe connection between Hawke’s Bay and Wairoa District and on to Tairawhiti could be restored.
“We know how critical this SH2 connection is for the thousands of road users and freight operators who use this corridor every day, and the local communities and businesses who have been looking forward to this keenly anticipated project going ahead.
“This funding allows NZTA to get on with the project and finalise design and complete negotiations with property owners in the area. NZTA wants to work with local contractors for as much of the construction as possible, and I look forward to this beginning once pre-implementation work is completed.”
“I know [Cyclone Gabrielle] recovery work has been a tough grind for the East Coast. The Government is committed to the region and prioritising the delivery of roading investment across New Zealand is part of our plan to boost economic growth. That includes the Waikare Gorge realignment, alongside all the other recovery work currently under way.
“I want to acknowledge the patience and persistence of those living, working and travelling through the East Coast. I also want to thank the local MPs Katie Nimon and Dana Kirkpatrick, Wairoa Mayor Craig Little, and other community leaders for their continued strong advocacy for this important project.”
The funding will be drawn down from a tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2024 to enable the NZ Transport Agency to bring forward priority projects that would otherwise be phased to begin from 2027 onwards.
Overall funding to deliver the Waikare Gorge Realignment will be confirmed publicly once a contractor is in place to deliver the project.
The project has been under consideration since at least 2004, when the Hawke’s Bay Regional Land Transport Committee included it in a list of five priorities it wanted in the 10-year programme of Transit New Zealand (now the NZTA).
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little makes a point to Minister of Transport Chris Bishop during the gathering at which the realignment approval was announced. Photo / Doug Laing
Also included were the Hawke’s Bay Expressway’s Meeanee interchange and on-ramps, and the Napier-Wairoa road’s Matahoura Gorge, which was completed in 2010, including a new bridge, but a new National-led government then focused much of its future highways spend on a Roads of National Significance project, which did not list any in Hawke’s Bay.
Late in 2019, the agency, known then as Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, started consultation with the community of Putorino, the halfway point on the road between Napier and Wairoa.
Progress was indicated the following May when the NZTA announced $5m of funding approved to work on finalising details of a preferred route and options.
In August 2021 it announced plans for 3.9km of new road, bypassing Putorino, and including a 160m-long arch bridge, at 60m above the Waikare River, thus one of the highest highway bridges in New Zealand.
The destroyed Waikare Gorge bridge alongside a temporary bridge that has replaced it since the cyclone. Photo / Paul Taylor
Amid some anxiety mounting about the lack of further progress, the deadline for opposition to Resource Consent applications to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council came in March last year without objections, but the council said it could be four months before consents could be approved.
Five months later, Wairoa Mayor Craig Little expressed concern and urged the Government to stick to the realignment project, rather than just a bridge replacement.
In September, alongside an announcement of a four-laning project for the Hawke’s Bay Expressway between Napier and Hastings, the Coalition Government announced almost $118m was earmarked for the “implementation” of the Waikare Gorge realignment project during the next three years.
Napier MP Katie Nimon said she had been campaigning for the project since before she entered Parliament, because it would unlock economic growth.
“I also want to acknowledge the strong advocacy of Rex McIntyre, who is sadly no longer with us. For years, Rex fought for realignment of various phases of SH2 North, playing a part in what is made possible today.
“Even before Cyclone Gabrielle hit, this section of state highway was a dangerous ‘pinch-point’, where two trucks couldn’t safely pass on the corner. This project has been at the top of our regional wish-list, and I know that constituents will be delighted to see it going ahead.”
Construction will begin as soon as NZTA completes pre-implementation work such as negotiations with landowners, detailed design and consenting.
The project is expected to take four years to complete. Because it is constructed mostly away from the existing SH2, there will be no traffic disruption, except when it comes to connecting the new road to the existing state highway.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
